Friday March 29, 2013

Dinner for 4

Japanese Pickled Vegetables
Beef and Shallot Skewers

Gyoza
Karaage Chicken
Horenso No Goma-ae
Kakiage
Green Salad with Miso Dressing
Nanban-zuke with Steamed Rice
Five Spice Nashi with Ginger Cream

My sister is in town for Easter weekend, without her spouse, so one of my adult nephews has joined us.  Prior to my sister and brother-in-law moving away last year they were the anchor at my table for my Friday Night Dinners.  

Tonights dinner is consiting mainly of many small plates served over the course of the evening.  Each one was fairly easy to cook although some of the dishes had a lot of prep work and sitting time.  The recipes can be found here at the Japanese tapas menu plan except for the Japanese Illusion a delicious cocktail anytime.

I love pickled anything really and I especially like having pickles with any Asian cuisine.

This has to be one of my favourite Gyoza recipe.  I think it was the pre-cooking of the ginger, garlic and cabbage.  I also made a spicy soy dipping sauce by combining salt reduced soy sauce and chilli garlic sauce.

Beef and green onions are aways a favourite in my books.  These were super easy with bottled teriyaki sauce.

The Horenso No Goma-ae, a spinach and sesame salad, was quick and delicious.

As was the Karaage Chicken which was deep fried chicken thighs. My oil was just a little to hot so they got a bit dark.  Someday I hope to have a frier where I can control the temperature.

I think the Kakiage, a prawn and vegetable fritter, was the hit of the night.  I used purple heritage carrots which made the dish even more colourful.  It was my first go at any sort of fritter.  I think I needed a little less oil in my pan and to get the oil a little hotter.  For a first attempt they certainly tasted great and were a big hit with my guests. 

Miso salad dressing where have you been all my life?  This is being added to the go to recipe book for sure. So tasty!

Nanban-Zuke, fried fish with vinegar and onion on steamed rice, was also very tasty, light and sour, but at this point in the evening we were all getting rather stuffed.

I love fruit desserts and this one was delicious.  The savoury/sweet spices of 5 spice paired nicely with the Nashi.  The chopped candied ginger added to the cream was delicous.  This is definately my kind of dessert.

All the dishes were fantastic and I would cook any of them again.